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Refreshing their earlier PC refresh campaign, Intel Malaysia are offering updated deals and devices for this Chinese New Year. While the Year of the Wooden Goat officially started on 4 February 2015 this refresh sees new devices powered by the latest 5th generation Intel Core and 64-bit Intel Bay Trail processors. Like previously, users can opt to trade-in their existing devices for a discount to rebates for winning Air Asia BIG points so you can get a free holiday. Devices include brands such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft and SNS networks. For all the latest deals for the Year of the Goat, check out pcrefresh.intel.my/ or the Intel CNY Gift Guide in this article.

Samsung will reportedly announce its next flagship, the Samsung Galaxy s6 at MWC 2015 to be held in Barcelona, Spain in March. The company has already sent out invites for the event and recently, the company took to its official website, to give out some minute details about the upcoming flagship device. The article is titled "The Future of Camera is in a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone" and is written by DongHoon Jang, the Senior Vice President and head of Camera R&D Group at IT & Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics. In the article, the exec explains each and every camera module used in the Samsung Galaxy S series. He further adds that the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S6 will have the best smartphone camera module from the company so far. In the post, he explained that the company tested over 10000 photos at every imaginable lighting condition for analysis. Hence, the smartphone camera in 2015 from Samsung will be intelligent and will capture amazing pictures in any kind of lighting conditions. In addition, all the work will be done by the smart camera module and users will just have to focus on clicking the shutter button. Still no Malaysia release date or pricing details yet, but we should know more in the next few weeks.

If you are looking for a new laptop or tablet, Intel has a number of promotional offers which will help you save up to RM567. Under the new Intel PC Refresh Promotion, the company is giving away discount vouchers, JBL speakers, extended warranties and even subscription to antivirus software when you purchase an Intel powered device. To redeem the RM100 discount vouchers, interested customers will have to print out the voucher and go to the event that is held at Concourse Area, Low Yat Plaza. However, not everyone with a voucher will get RM100 off. Only the first 10 customers on weekdays and 20 on weekend will be able to redeem it. Also, the discount is applicable only on select Intel powered devices. Similarly, the RM300 JBL speakers are only available on select products like the Acer Switch 2 and the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro. Finally, the 3-year warranty and anti-Virus subscription is exclusive to some Acer products. These include the Acer E5, Iconia Tab 8 and Acer Switch 11 and 12 models. This promotional offer started on January 26 and will continue till 1st February 2015. For the applicable devices and full details on the promotion, check out Intel's site.   

Intel Malaysia recently held a media briefing with Sumner Lemon, Country Manager for Intel Malaysia and Singapore where he outlined key Intel IT highlights from 2014 and IT predictions for 2015. During 2014 Intel made a big push for Intel powered mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones resulting in many affordable devices like the ASUS ZenFone smartphones and various other Intel-powered tablets. In doing so Intel revealed their new 14nm fabricated processors like the 5th generation Intel Core series and Intel Atom Z3000 series, many of which have already been released in 64-bit powered tablets like the ASUS Fonepad 8 and ASUS Fonepad 7. Last year also saw the introduction of Intel's foray in wearables with Galileo, Edison and Curie all of which are teeny tiny Systems-on-Chips (SoC) much like Raspberry Pi which will enable intelligent devices even on your shirt buttons. New technologies like the RealSense 3D cameras can enable gesture driven computers and notebooks while wireless charging may soon be implemented in airports around the world.

At CES 2015 Intel made quite a few announcements, but one of the most important was for the 5th Generation Intel Core processor family. Utilizing a 14nm fabrication process, the new Intel Core processors include Intel HD graphics and Intel Iris graphics based on the Intel Broadwell microarchitecture. While these new 5th Generation Intel Core processors will be making their way to notebooks, 2-in-1 devices, ultrabooks, chromebooks, mini PCs, desktops and other devices, Intel is also readying their new Cherry Trail range of processors for mobile devices. These Cherry Trail processors are also made using a 14nm fabrication process, offer 64-bit computing, Intel Generation 8-LP graphics and LTE-Advanced connectivity via the Intel XMM 726x platform for Cat6 speeds. We expect Cherry Trail tablets to arrive sometime in Q1 or Q2 of 2015 despite there being no Malaysia release dates or pricing details just yet. Here's what Intel had to say about Cherry Trail:

"Intel’s 14nm, next-generation Intel Atom processor for tablets, “Cherry Trail”, will offer new user experiences such as Intel RealSense technology, no wires, no passwords and Intel® Context Aware™ technology capabilities, bringing new innovation and excitement to tablets. Intel RealSense Snapshot provides depth-sensing photo capabilities, giving people the power to change focus, take measurements, and add dynamic effects and motion to pictures with a touch of a finger. With its no wires capabilities, Cherry Trail enables tablets to wirelessly display content to a big screen or projector. Cherry Trail will also enable users to login with their face, fingerprint or a trusted device they assigned. Using an accelerometer, sound and light sensors, and information from the cloud, Intel Context Aware technology can determine the context or environment someone is in and provide information based on those surroundings."

Lenovo has been quite busy at CES 2015 announcing a number of products in different categories like smartphones, wearables, laptops etc. The company also updated its tablet lineup at the event with the all new Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen technology. This technology allows the tablet user to use any kind of metal object as a replacement to the traditional stylus. The replacements can be anything, from a ballpoint pen, a fork, to even a knife. The company claims that this technology improves precision and is much better than using your finger to write on the tablet screen. Apart from this new tech, the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 features a 64-bit Intel Atom quad-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz. There is 2GB RAM on board with 32GB internal storage. On the front, the tablet comes with an 8-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution IPS display. Other tech specs include an 8MP rear camera, 1.6MP front camera, 6400 mAh battery (rated at 15 hours on a single charge!) and stereo speakers with Dolby Audio and Wolfson amplification. The tablet measures 8.3 x 5.9 x 0.1 inches and runs on a Windows 8.1 operating system. Lenovo will release this device in January 2015 for $299 (RM1063). The company has yet to announce details like Malaysia pricing and release dates.

Intel Malaysia recently provided the two winners of their 'Level Up Your Business' competition RM30000 worth of devices and support for a significant Tech Boost for each startup. The two winning tech startups include Edu 360 and Tableapp while the 'Level Up Your Business' contest was designed to increase ICT adoption while making life a bit easier for Malaysian SMEs. Edu 360 provides robotics and animation enrichment activities to help develop more creative and problem-solving kids. Tableapp on the other hand is a real-time online reservation service for Malaysian restaurants. Hopefully the Tech Boosts will help accelerate and improve overall growth of the two startups and open up interest from other Malaysian startups and SMEs.

The upcoming Xiaomi MiPad 2 tablet has had a number of rumours about it crop up, not least of which include tech specs and features. While the previous MiPad packed in a 2.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra K1 processor, the MiPad 2 could come with a 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor instead. We expect this to be partly becaue that Intel Atom processor is 64-bit and also because Intel is making it really easy for manufacturers to get their mobile processors. Other tech specs and features include a 7.9-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution along with 2GB RAM and Android 4.4.4. Leaked pictures indicate that the MiPad 2 will have a less rounded corners look but will still be thin and slim. No news yet on Malaysia release dates or pricing but the Xiaomi MiPad 2 is expected during CES 2015 so we shouldn't have to wait very long.

TAG Heuer is rumoured to be releasing it's first smartwatch at CES 2015 to be held in Las Vegas. After a series of rumors that cropped up this fall, the company admitted that it was working on its own smartwatch back in September. However, at that time, company CEO Jean-Claude Biver said that the watch would only be unveiled at the 2015 Baselworld international watch show. But from the latest rumors it looks like the company may have shifted the unveiling to January next year. The source adds that there is a slight chance that the launch may happen a few weeks later, but it would still be before end of March 2015. The source further said that the watch would run on an Intel chipset. This isn't surprising given that the famous chip company has been investing a lot of money in wearables and the Internet of Things (IoT) in the past two years. The watch is said to feature a sleek design in line with current TAG Heuer offerings, and may come with functions like a steps calculator, calorie count and a few notifications options.

We won't lie to you, most Malaysians like to eat, ourselves included and looking to meet up and talk one on one with Malaysia's tech crowd today was Intel Malaysia and Singapore's new Country Manager, Sumner P. Lemon. On hand to meet and greet Malaysians at a casual makan-makan, we were able to ask him a few questions. According to him, the main thing that he will be focusing on in this new position is growth, particularly areas in the Malaysia tech industry which show signs of growth. This includes the mobile and smartphone industry without forgetting the PC and notebook computer markets. As such, we should be able to expect many new Intel powered smartphones and mobile devices in the remainder of 2014 and for 2015 laying to rest rumours that Intel would be less involved with mobile devices in 2015.